"Quakes, A's choose 360 Architecture for stadium designs" (Tuesday, 9/7/10)

so the design still has no luxury suites or corporate boxes? and not even any club seating with access to a lounge/restaurant area? i don't even see a press box.

so, yeah. good luck with that Lew.

 

Do you ever stop bitching?

 

i made an observation about the plans. you don't like the observation tough. i am sorry should we all simply ignore the fact that these plans do not seem very realistic for a professional soccer stadium?

i am sure they will get a stadium built, sometime. but i'd like to see some newer plans that account for little realities like, you know, a press box. i'd also like to see plans for a stadium that include ways for the team that will use that stadium to actually maximize revenue. like more than 15K seats or boxes or club seats and lounge. this vision of the stadium is basically 3 banks of high school bleachers with a giant advertising roof over them. i think the Quakes deserve better than that.

 

Good luck to the Quakes. Yes, it's been discussed in the past about a lack of revenue-making lux boxes, but my main beef is that stupid empty end. Everybody seems to rip the Rapids Front Office, but even they realized the value of having some flag-waving ultras behind the one goal was better than a big empty spot or smattering of few fans. When/if expansion of the park happens you can easily build a proper grandstand. Some silly hill is a big waist.

 

Maybe so. Could also be used for some boxes if it is.

 

well according to these plans it isn't even a hill. it is a small flat grassy area around a giant TV screen and between two giant ad stanchions. and of course we are supposed to believe that this small, flat, grassy area is going to fit an equal number of standing room only fans as the elevated and banked grandstand at the other end taking the total capacity from 15K to 18K. i am going to have to call a physics reality check on that one, based on these rough plans at least.

 

But look at the positives. It has a roof and no stage. In that respect it has more in common with stadiums for our sport around the world than some other MLS SSS.

 

Great news that they've hired the architects and designers. This is another good step in the right direction. Now we can move beyond renderings into actual building plans. However I'll be more excited when they announce they've got the funding in place.

As for the design, I still think it's a great set up. We're going to be sitting closer than anyone else in MLS and will have a beautiful and permanent home we'll control ensuring stability for the team. As for the boxes, luxury boxes are overrated quite frankly. They add nothing to the stadium setting, and as you can see on any visit to the Home Despot Center, they don't even sell out. I'd much rather we turn some of those corporate types into actual fans with first row field side seats than lock them away in hermetically sealed boxes that are half empty every game.

 

You're not invited to the party.

 

Is there a funding mechanism in place yet? Has Lew announced he reached the "magic sponsorship" amount that he's been looking for in order to start spending the money?

Any news on that front at all? If not, this just seems like a non-step to appease the frustrated masses.

 

I can't imagine that there won't be a press box. Maybe some boxes are contemplated for tha space between the top row and the roof.

As for the rest, I'm not sure how fundamentally important any of that is. I assume the business people involved are trying to maximize revenue, and I don't really have the information necessary to critique them from taht standpoint.

 

Awesome that they got smart and threw out that silly 15,000-seat number. Also really cool to hear that it's going to be a mixed-use development. Really happy for San Jose and their fans.

When do they start construction? Or is this more of a "let the people know we are still trying to get a stadium" kind of announcement?

 

but great. awesome. a stadium that only holds 15K with no place for normal suites/boxes, no even field level suites/boxes shown on the renderings, no press box anywhere and no club seats with lounge/restaurant amenities sounds really swell. hope that works out for you guys. sounds like you'll have the nicest stadium in the league to be sure and a revenue generating goldmine to boot. now if they put out some new renderings that fix any of these problems then i will know this project has moved to a more serious level but as of right now it is the same tired and completely unbelievable renderings as before. so essentially no news. no funding. and still not a realistic plan or rendering for the stadium. so wow, yes very exciting developments.

 

In 60-90days...

 

as the "Plans" stand so far the stadium concept isn't very realistic. sure they are only renderings but unless future plans address some of these pretty serious issues (no press box, no suites either at field level or in the normal place, no club seating with lounge/restaurant, and some magic 3K standing room seats in a space clearly to small to contain that many) you are going to be left with what is literally a 3 sided high school grandstand with a big roof for a paid advertisement that will essentially relegate the Quakes to the stadium revenue basement of MLS from day one of the stadium opening. now if the fans are so desperate for having a new stadium that even a half-assed one is better than not doing one that is fine.

but if that stadium as rendered magically appears at the beginning of next season the Quakes would still be in a position where the revenue potential of their stadium would be only ahead of DCU at RFK and maybe Chivas at HDC & HOU at Robertson (depending on the terms of their leases). does that make any sense? to spend $60M and all of that political capital to go from having a bottom 3 stadium revenue potential situation to .... still being in the bottom 3 of stadium revenue potential? sounds like a wasted opportunity to me but hey ... nothing but Jonestown kool-aid drinking love allowed in here ...

 

I apologize for my ignorance, and my lack of desire to wade through past threads, but what is the purpose of the empty end? I saw someone say there won't be a stage there and someone else say it will be a standing room only area, but what's the purpose?

 

Absolutely. I wasn't liking the 15,000 number either. I could understand it if there was no other way, but to me that number really sounded like Lew Wolff trying to lower the standards of what would count as bare minimum in MLS.

 

what someone told me before, is that it serves a purpose to direct the crowd noise into the airport.

I don't know if that is true

 

What makes you think it's bleachers and not individual seats?

 

Cost control. Same reason Lew didn't want any luxury suites.

 

As the kids say, "This."

Wait, they're gonna have dolphins?

Like at the old Orange Bowl? That'll be cool!

Don't the luxury suites tend to pay for themselves, and even be profitable?

If not, why is it so damn important that every new stadium have them and every new team demand to have a new stadium?

I can't imagine the Bay area is so damn different that there isn't a demand and/or need for luxury suites that ever other pro team in every other market needs and every other fan base seems to fill.

 

No news on that that I've heard of, but the big annual SSV dinner is coming up in 10 days. I would guess if there's news, that'll be when it gets announced.
The only other concrete news we have....is they're starting to demolish the industrial buildings on the site.

We've seen some drawings where it's a food/beer garden type of concept. But I don't know that it's decided.
I think it's a pretty rough cut on these drawings because there's no apparent contingency for standing supporters' sections.